This thread is a focused discussion group. Please see the first post below for the current topic and upcoming book discussions. While natter will inevitably happen, we encourage you to treat this like a virtual book club and try to keep your posts in that spirit.
By consensus, this thread is reopened specifically to discuss Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It will be closed again once that discussion has run its course.
***SPOILER ALERT***
- **Spoilers for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows lie here. Read at your own risk***
I had problems with the word "jumper" as a kid, too!
I was happy to see the inclusion of a lot more British words in the later HP books. When I saw "trainer" instead of "sneaker," I knew that they had finally decided to trust us Yanks to figure these words out.
Yeah, I don't understand the change from Philosopher to Sorcerer at all.
I think that they thought that Sorcerer was more exciting than Philosopher. For children, philosphers are these boring old guys that just sit around and say stuff. Sorcerers do cool stuff.
Amen. Apparently kids were thought to be smarter in the '50s, since Elizabeth Enright's Gone-Away Lake uses the Philosopher's Stone as a main plot point.
yes, but it's not in the title. And the title is key for kids.
I was happy to see the inclusion of a lot more British words in the later HP books. When I saw "trainer" instead of "sneaker," I knew that they had finally decided to trust us Yanks to figure these words out.
either that, or they knew that they would sell like hotcakes regardless, so why spend the money?
t /cynic
I had problems with the word "jumper" as a kid, too!
Vest is the one that always trips me up.
pparently kids were thought to be smarter in the '50s, since Elizabeth Enright's Gone-Away Lake uses the Philosopher's Stone as a main plot point.
Awww, I loved her books!
...wait, what does vest mean in British??
I still reread my Elizabeth Enright on occasion, and they're still good. The Melendys were the family I wanted to be part of, instead of my own.
I am giddy happy!
I veered into my normally woeful local library branch with no expectations of finding anything interesting. How wrong I was.
There were not one, but TWO copies of Deathly Hallows on cd.
::snag::
Usually, I buy the hardbacks on the day and then wait months to find a good deal on the audiobooks.
Ooooh. Voldemort just said,"Such lllliiiiieeeeesss Lucius."
Fun!
I read a bunch of E. Nesbit back in the day, but I must not have cared what anyone was wearing, since I don't recall any of these words.
The Canadian editions actually provide a bit of a check here - there weren't any changes to the books, as far as I know, and most of the changes were words that are just as unfamiliar to Canadians as to Americans. Were the sales any less impressive in Canada (proportionate to population, of course)?
I think Canadians are a bit more... anglophilic maybe? England and its ways are less of an "other" to y'all than to us. Even if you don't use the actual vocabulary they're more like cousins than second or third cousins familiarity-wise.
I think punching up the title of a book ("Sorcerer" deffinately sounds more exciting than "Philosopher") isn't so much of a crime.
As far as liking Britishisms in childrens books... I always did too. But we're largely nerds. We liked reading and words and other cultures were interesting as opposed to disconcerting. Making a book more appealing to a larger population with minor vocabulary tweaks just strikes me as a variant on translation.